Disney Shareholders Vote Down Audit on China Relationship

Shareholders of The Walt Disney Company have once again put forward a proposal to demand CEO Bob Iger and the rest of the Board of Directors be honest about their dealing with the Chinese Communist Party.

We at Disney Fanatic first shared this proposal when the Company distributed the Notice of Proxy Statement. During The Walt Disney Company’s Annual Meeting of the Shareholders on April 3, 2023, it was presented by a spokesman who reminded us that Walt once put patriotism ahead of profit by opening the studio up to the military after Pearl Harbor, led the creation of patriotic cartoons, and accepted loss of profits from films like Pinocchio and Fantasia due to the wartime state of the country.

Along with demanding the audit, he urged his fellow shareholders to stand up for what’s right and ask Disney leadership to detach themselves from a country whose government participates in slavery, force indoctrination camps, and other human rights violations.

Related: China Market is Softening on Iger and Disney

However, this shareholder’s words fell on deaf ears. Counting the proxy votes collected in preparation for the meeting, only 7% voted for the proposal, and 89% voted against it. 4% abstained.

This is the second time a shareholder’s attempt to reign in Disney’s collusion with China has failed.

Proxy Voting – If You Don’t Vote, Disney Board Gets Your Vote

It should be noted that Disney’s Board of Directors automatically absorbs the proxy of all shareholders if they do not actively vote themselves before the meeting. On each proxy card, the Board identifies which way they want Disney shareholders to vote and, by doing so, also declares which way they will vote using a shareholders proxy. Disney’s Board of Directors was vehemently against this proposal.

While the specifics of each shareholder’s voting practices are not known, it is therefore also unknown how much of that 97% of the proxy vote was active Disney Shareholders and how much of it was the Disney Board exercising the proxy of its less-involved investors.

For most of the 21st Century, The Walt Disney Company has worked to develop its relationship with the Middle Kingdom and its Communist Chinese Government, beginning with the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland and the manifestation of Shanghai Disneyland and the entire Shanghai Disney Resort. But as diplomatic tension grows between China and the United States of America, one has to wonder if Disney CEO Bob Iger will lead the America-first company Walt Disney started 100 years ago.